Behind The Curtain
by leahloahla
Summary: There are always two sides to any story. Zach's mom is trying to locate him. Takes place AU. Better summary inside. Could be considered the sequel to the other story I wrote In the Beginning.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note****: I wrote this after GG4 but it takes place AU when DJGC would be happening. Zach's mom is trying to find him and she doesn't really care about getting Cammie at this point. I hope you enjoy.****  
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**Disclaimer: I don't own any character's that appear in the actual books. **

Behind the Curtain

Chapter 1

"Incompetents! Complete incompetents! Can't you people do anything right? He's a sixteen year old boy for God's sake!" I yell.

"Yes but he's good, very good in fact," says one of the new guys.

"Well you should be better considering you have eight years of training on him," I reply.

"But he's been trained by Joe Solomon," he persists.

"What did I say about mentioning that traitor?"

"Sorry ma'am," he says.

"Sorrys are for civilians. Now get back to work," I say and walk away.

There's something you need to know about us. We're not some goody goody government agency. We don't stop terrorist attacks or find missing little kids. We organize the terrorist attacks and take little kids. We're an organization unlike any other; we're big enough to be dangerous but small enough to slip through cracks. That's how we've survived for such a long time without being compromised. We have no cause or purpose; we just want power and money. We're known as The Circle of Cavan, we have agents at every level of major security service in the world, to them we're traitors, but I like to call us double agents.

Joe Solomon on the other hand, he's a triple agent. He joined the same time as I did, we were sixteen. I was attending the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Woman and he was attending our brother school. These schools aren't what they seem to be. They train operatives for government agencies. They have Circle operatives working at the schools to recruit new members and somehow they recruited me. I'm not saying that I regret it; in fact, it's the complete opposite. Joe Solomon is one of the only triple agents in The Circle. He's the only one who's come so close to destroying us, but he hasn't managed to do so yet, luckily for him. Although he _has_ managed to turn my son against me and The Circle and we can't seem to locate him, my son that is. The last time I saw him he was stealing our records and he escaped with them. My guess is that he went back to the Gallagher Academy with Joe. Zach is a sixteen year old trained spy/assassin. He disappears for months before I can ever locate him again but this time we have to find him and his little girlfriend before they can do anymore damage.

When I walk into my office Chris is standing there looking at some files I had left on my desk.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"Snooping," he replies like it's no big deal, really it is no big deal. If they're important I wouldn't have left them on my desk. "Have you found him yet?" he asks.

"No."

"Well, he'll turn up. We'll get him when he makes a mistake."

"My worry is if he'll make one."

"Don't worry he will," he says in a wicked voice.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I awake the next morning to the sound of my phone ringing.

"Goode," I say sleepily.

"It's Chris, we've got a lead," he says and hangs up.

I walk over to the bathroom to check my hair. Last night I fell asleep on the couch in my office. Again. My hair is a mess and my clothes are all wrinkled. I have spare clothes in the closet for when this happens. I change, brush my hair and go downstairs.

"What do we got?" I ask as I lean over the new guy's shoulder.

"A boy matching Zach's description was seen on a bus heading north a week ago," he says.

"A _week _ago?" I reply.

"Yes."

"It was a rhetorical question," I tell him, frustrated once again. "How the hell did you miss that?" I yell in his ear and pull his chair out from under him. It's a quick move I have mastered over the years; he lands on the floor with a thud and the chair clatters over to the middle of the room. A couple of the other newbies give us sideways glances and return to their work.

"What's your name?" I ask him.

"Excuse me?" he replies.

"I asked you a question, now I expect an answer."

"Andrew," he says still sitting on the floor.

"Okay _Andrew,_ first I want you to get up off the floor and _then_ I want you to get your butt into gear and give me some useful information." I say and exited the room with Chris hot on my heels.

As soon as we're out of ear shot he asks me "What was that all about?"

"Nothing" I say bluntly.

"Catherine we've been working together for fifteen years now and I think I know you well enough to know that that was not nothing."

"Fifteen years means almost nothing in our line of work."

"What?" he asks.

"Zach's heading north," I say.

"So what does that mean?"

"He's going to see my sister," I tell him and kept walking.

A minute later at the other end of the hall I hear him say, "She's got a sister?"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Five hours and three cups of coffee later, I sit at my desk trying to figure out what to do next. I may be a highly trained assassin, but assassins have family and I haven't talked to mine in over ten years. Of course they know I have a son, they just haven't seen him in a while. In my line of work, it's hard to keep in touch with family because you're always on the move. When I first started out I would call on birthdays and holidays, but then I never had time and I just stopped calling.

My sister works for the CIA and the last time I checked she was working in Canada tracking Circle operatives. She has devoted her life to stopping The Circle so we don't really get along so well. Zach must have found out and decided to go see her. I have her phone number and address but I'm a little reluctant to call. Even though I deal with terrorists and 'bad guys' everyday my family is a whole other issue. So here I sit, waiting for something, hell, anything, that will stop me from doing what I have to do next.

Ten minutes pass and I'm still sitting tere.

Suddenly Chris bursts in. "Sorry to interrupt," he says, "but I think we've got a lead."

"All right what is it?" I ask.

"Two days ago, a guy in a park in Calais saw a boy that looked like Zach enter a public washroom and he never came back out."

"Was he with the girl?" I ask.

"Not that we know of," he says.

"All right, so that means he's in disguise. Great," I say, frustrated. "He could already be in Canada by now."

"That's what we're thinking," he replies.

"Okay, get out" I tell him as politely as possible.

"What?" he asks, confused.

"I need to make a call, now leave," I say. "Please" I add as an afterthought. Chris give me a questioning look and leaves the room.

* * *

><p><em>"Hi you've reached Ann and Mark, we're currently away from the phone so leave a message and we'll get back to you." BEEP. <em>

I sit here, listening to the silence on the other end of the line. It's the second time I have called. The first time I hadn't even made it to the answering machine. Since they aren't picking up it's not like I can leave a message or a phone number or anything. After what feels like an eternity but is only five seconds, I hang up the phone. I decide to call one last time; of course I wait fifteen minutes before doing so.

One ring.

Two rings.

Three rings. "Ann Taylor."

I'm a little surprised that she picks up at first, but, without missing a beat I say,

"Is that what you're going by now?"

"Excuse me?" she says acting surprised.

"Ann Taylor. Wasn't that the name of the character from the TV show we used to watch when we were kids that you loved so much?" I ask.

"Catherine?"

A beat of silence.

"How the hell did you get this number?"

"The same way Zach did."

Another beat of silence.

"Zach... as in, Zach your son?" she says.

"Oh don't play dumb with me Jillian; you know who I'm talking about," I reply.

"For some odd reason you could always tell when I was lying. I guess twelve years hasn't changed that," she comments.

"No, I guess it hasn't," I say quietly.

"Well after twelve years of no contact there must be some important reason you called," she says sounding like big sister.

"Yes, and you already know. Now where's Zach?" I demand.

"Hey, don't ask me, he said he wanted to talk, said he would get himself here, then he'd call and we would set a time. He hasn't called yet," she tells me.

"Okay," I hesitate, "thanks."

It's a bit awkward; in truth the whole thing is awkward. For the next few seconds we sit in silence, listening to each other breathing.

"Oh," she says all of a sudden. "Peter did say there was a new kid at school. How did he put it again? Oh yes, 'definitely an odd duck that one.' "

"Who's Peter?" I ask. It feels like a stupid question, but it needs to be asked.

"He's my son," she replies. I don't have a clue what to say so I just stay quiet. "Well, actually he's Marks son, but since I married Mark, he's my son now too," she clarifies.

"Wow, you really do miss a lot in twelve years," is all I can say.

"Anything else you want to know before you crawl back under that rock of yours?" she says with that air of superiority I hate so much.

"Um, yes, what school does Peter attend?" I ask.

"West Ridge High School in Saint John."

"Public school?" I ask dumbfounded.

"Yes, it wasn't my first choice but given the circumstances it seemed appropriate," she replies confidently.

"Sure, you keep telling yourself that," I say.

"We miss you Catherine," she says quietly.

"Um," I don't really know how to respond to that.

"And this is where you say 'I miss you to,' " she prompts.

"Right, I miss you too," I tell her. Then we both hang up the phone.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Wait you're going by yourself?" Chris asks me two hours later.

"Yes, I believe I just said that."

"But Catherine, don't you think that it's a little risky?"

"Why are you fighting me on this?" I raise my voice.

"I don't know, it just doesn't feel right to me," he says.

"Well this isn't about you, is it Chris?" I start yelling. "Zach is my son. I'm going to deal with him the way I want!"

"Okay, okay sorry," he says, backing down. "How are you going to get there?" he asks calmly.

"Well, I was thinking of walking," I reply sarcastically. Clearly he doesn't appreciate it. "I was going to take a plane," I say more seriously.

"When are you going to leave?" he asks.

"As soon as I can."

"Your plane leaves in thirty minutes," he tells me, with a smile and he hands me my ticket.

"Thanks Chris, you're the best," I say, grab my ticket and leave to pack my bag.

An hour later on the plane, I'm trying to think of a plan. I don't know where he's staying so I can't wait for him there. I can't stake out his school because some people might get suspicious. I can't follow him and confront him on the street because he might try to run and I don't have any back up. I have a few more elaborate plans but I don't really think they're very helpful at keeping a low profile. So I sit here for four hours on the plane going over the few options I have. By the fifth hour I have my plan.

* * *

><p>When I enter the school there's a distinct smell that I can't quite place at this time. It's a mixture of new paint and moldy food, probably from the lockers. I walk past the boys who are checking me out, the envious girls who are looking at my stiletto boots and head straight into the office. On the plane, I had studied the school's blueprints. There are only three main exits, all of which are close to the office so if Zach decides to make a break for it, I can catch him.<p>

When the secretary notices me standing there she says, "Can I help you?"

"Yes, I'm here to pick up my son," I tell.

"Would you like me to call him to the office?"

"Thank you, that would be lovely. His name is Zach Goode." I say as politely as I can.

"What do you want me to tell him?" she asks. She sounds like she needs a good coffee.

"Tell him his mother is here."

I can feel the devilish smile spreading across my face but I'm powerless to stop it.

**A/N: And that's all she wrote, well that's all I wrote but you get my point (hopefully). I had so much fun writing this story and I hope everyone who read it enjoyed it too. Thanks for reading :)**


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